Worried about new business

[Bronze Geek]

Im about to start renting a beauty room above a busy hairdressers but i gave them an appointment book last week to start booking in people from Nov 5th as thats when i will start working in there. Its going to be my own business as I will just be renting. Iv kept my prices really low compared to other places but im in the process of having business cards, signs and leaflets done.
I rang the salon this morning and they said no one has booked in. I keep getting told by my family that I shouldnt try to start a business whilst we are heading for a recession so im really nervous now and think i should have taken their advice. Iv spent around £1500 on equipment and courses so theres no going back.
Does anyone think that I am mad?? I keep thinking people wont book in unless they see the therapist and they have good marketing and a good name etc, does anyone agree? Im really worried :cry:

 

[Tams]

I am also worried but the guys on here have calmed me down a lot and said that as long as prices are low enough people will come to you no matter what is going on..

I was also worried and was thinking of stocking up and getting prepared and then launching when the economy is safer...it is a major worry..

I'm sure things will pick up when you have all your advertising material out there..

Good Luck xxx

 

[Martin Duffy]

Never rely on anyone else to make your name for you! You need to get out there yourself & promote yourself & your treatments. I find the best advertising is that where you meet your clients, so perhaps arrange a pre-launch open event where people can come & meet you, or arrange to do some talks/demos for some local interest groups (WI, flower & craft guilds etc are always a good bet). I also go & meet local businesses & tell them what I am offering & give them a free/discounted treatment to encourage them to tell their customers about my services. You need to create some interest in your business, and no-one will do that the same way you can!

As for this recession thing, to be honest I've had no downturn of business, and I am still getting new clients. A lot of businesses blame all sorts of outside factors for their failings, but a good business will adapt to the market. Be positive, ignore the doom-mongerers & be pro-active...that's my advice & it's seen me through the last 12 years!

 

[Bronze Geek]

Thanks for your reply. Its so difficult, i thought about doing that to but with xmas coming I thought I mite aswell have a go then after xmas go part time and get a part time job or somthing. Im working in admin at the moment and they have relocated to somewhere which is 35 miles from my house so im doind 70 miles a day which is costing me a bomb! I hope things go well for you aswell. People keep saying that if it dosnt work, just get a job but the thought of been a failure at my first business really depresses me! :hug:

 

[oey]

Welcome from a fellow Stokie.

I dont think that going into a recession should put you off. As longas you put the effort in with your marketing and promoting your business and the subsequent service you give to any clients that come to you is second to none then go ahead.

What planning, promotions and marketing have you done to help get those clients booked in?

 

[Vetty]

Im about to start renting a beauty room above a busy hairdressers but i gave them an appointment book last week to start booking in people from Nov 5th as thats when i will start working in there. Its going to be my own business as I will just be renting. Iv kept my prices really low compared to other places but im in the process of having business cards, signs and leaflets done.
I rang the salon this morning and they said no one has booked in. I keep getting told by my family that I shouldnt try to start a business whilst we are heading for a recession so im really nervous now and think i should have taken their advice. Iv spent around £1500 on equipment and courses so theres no going back.
Does anyone think that I am mad?? I keep thinking people wont book in unless they see the therapist and they have good marketing and a good name etc, does anyone agree? Im really worried :cry:

The thing that worries me is that you say you've kept your prices really low compared to others....... For me there are a couple of issues with this as a strategy: 1) You wont make a living and 2) People will question the quality of your treatments.

You need to make sure you are making enough profit from each treatment to cover:

Tax and NI
Rent to the salon
Repaying the £1,500 investment
Re-stocking
Further training
Your wage/income

Have you agreed a marketing strategy with the salon? Are they telling all their clients that there is a new therapist from 5th Nov? Are they doing your bookings on an on-going basis? If there's no poster/advert saying you're there and the reception staff aren't pushing your services then no-one will book you I'm afraid.

I'm not necessarily saying this is a bad time, but I think setting really low prices is a mistake and you have to work with the salon to get good exposure to their client-base.

hth's

 

[Bronze Geek]

Never rely on anyone else to make your name for you! You need to get out there yourself & promote yourself & your treatments. I find the best advertising is that where you meet your clients, so perhaps arrange a pre-launch open event where people can come & meet you, or arrange to do some talks/demos for some local interest groups (WI, flower & craft guilds etc are always a good bet). I also go & meet local businesses & tell them what I am offering & give them a free/discounted treatment to encourage them to tell their customers about my services. You need to create some interest in your business, and no-one will do that the same way you can!

As for this recession thing, to be honest I've had no downturn of business, and I am still getting new clients. A lot of businesses blame all sorts of outside factors for their failings, but a good business will adapt to the market. Be positive, ignore the doom-mongerers & be pro-active...that's my advice & it's seen me through the last 12 years!

Thanks for your advise, i'll try to be a bit more positive now! The room iv got is only small so im not going to be able to launch anything. Im thinking of doing a massive mail shot around the area so that may help! thanks alot

 

[sue@ttt]

Go for it and dont look back, dont rely on others to market you. I do not advertise and have built my business on recommendations. It takes time to become established, you have to start somewhere. Even if you have no clients yet you need to be visible so make a regular presence on the premises and you will soon see your business grow once you become familiar. I also believe that you should not have cheap prices, people actually book therapists who charge higher rates because they feel they are getting a better service. Do your market research in the area and price accordingly, but not the cheapest!!!!!!!!!! Good luck PM me and let me know how things go.

 

[Bronze Geek]

The thing that worries me is that you say you've kept your prices really low compared to others....... For me there are a couple of issues with this as a strategy: 1) You wont make a living and 2) People will question the quality of your treatments.

You need to make sure you are making enough profit from each treatment to cover:

Tax and NI
Rent to the salon
Repaying the £1,500 investment
Re-stocking
Further training
Your wage/income

Have you agreed a marketing strategy with the salon? Are they telling all their clients that there is a new therapist from 5th Nov? Are they doing your bookings on an on-going basis? If there's no poster/advert saying you're there and the reception staff aren't pushing your services then no-one will book you I'm afraid.

I'm not necessarily saying this is a bad time, but I think setting really low prices is a mistake and you have to work with the salon to get good exposure to their client-base.

hth's

Hi Yvette,

I have just gone lower than the salons around me. Im not overly low just around 50p-£1 lower for waxing and im doing creative nails gel brisa and acrylic so iv priced the gel at £30 and the Acylic at £27 as im only just starting. The only thing I have gone really low on is the spray tan which im doing at £12 for now as Iv put on my price list (which is behind the till at the hairdressers) that this is only until the end of November. Iv only done it at this price as someone near does them at £13 and someone else at £15.
I havnt actually done a strategy as you stated, Iv done it more on who is around me (which is probably a bit dumb looking bk).

Im getting some leaflets done and posting them round different areas e.t.c.

 

[divalou]

I dont mean to sound funny but £1500 is NOTHING! Your hardly going to lose LOADS if you jack it in! Try £20k + for setting up a business, when your talking about that amount of money, then start worrying.

If you want clients, then you have to go out there and get them, they arent going to go looking for you. If your upstairs in a salon, who's gong to see you? Have you got a huge poster in their window? Are you giving out discounts to all their existing clients? Are you giving out flyers? If not, then THATS why you have no clients.
It takes ages to build a decent client base and YOU have to do all the hard work and everything you can to get people in.
Charging cheapo rates isnt going to get people through the door, and also probably isnt viable in the long run. People will think they are getting a cheap service, like if you go to a back street salon, you get a back street hair cut, go to a top class salon you get a top class hair cut. You need to charge exactly what you think your time, training, advertising, customer service etc is worth and that is actually going to be worth going to work for.
I'd charge middle of the road but give First Class Customer Service& Treatments and THATS what will get people coming back.
Yes this whole recession crap is scary but unless you've got loans and leases coming out of your ears, there's nothing to worry about besides getting people throuhg the door.

Oh and Mail Shots/Flyering on a general basis doesnt work! You need to be specific with people and keep putting it in their faces, you name needs to be in their head.
So maybe go into a clothes shop where you know all the girls look after themselves, offer all that work there a permanent discount, tell them to recommend their friends and they might recieve a free treatment/product, then their friends can recommend more friends and so on and so forth. Use all the clients that the salon have, give them a discount, offer them a free hand massage or something. Ask if you can have some displays in the salon window of your products/services.

 

[THERAPY]

Hi there. I also rent a room above a hair salon and business was quiet for me too when I first started. The salon was also taking bookings for me at first too, but then I took my appointment book out of the hair salon and started taking my own bookings and still do and find this works better for me. The issue for me was the stylists didn't really know about the beauty side of things so couldn't really answer any queries for me about certain treatments. It might be an idea for you to try this and see how things go. Good luck and hang in there, the phone will ring soon enough. xx

 

[hippy-chick]

Ring your local business link for some advice, they will come to you in your own time.
They may not be able to give you funding but they can give you contact numbers to get advice.
I've just had 3 PR/Marketing companies come to me to give me free advice, they've all typed up proposals of how they can help me, but I've already learnt a few things from the free time they gave me, which is about 2 hours each.

have you got a website? You can get one that you build yourself for about £30 a year, try www.1and1.co.uk, its where I've got my site (take a look).

I've got a room above a hairdressers and I'm going to have a 1st year in business/launch new skincare range party next month. I've got an editorial that someone kindly helped to write for me to send out to try and come some free publicity.

I get my biz cards, etc from vistaprint, just placed a new order 10 minutes ago!

Think about your image, and think about getting a logo made so you are instantly recognisable from that. Try www.extentionize.com for that.

 

[bombini]

Some really good advice has been given on here.

You need to get out there and promote yourself, its all very well having a price list at reception but you need a poster with special offers and if possible have a mini poster and/or price list on every mirror so clients can look whilst having their hair done.

I wouldn't worry to much about having no one booked in yet as you don't open for another 3 weeks, I would perhaps arrange a couple of days to go into the salon before you start, to do a few demos, free hand & arm massages etc use this opportunity to get to know prospective clients.

Have you done any adverts in the paper ? If not get them booked now. So many new business don't budget for marketing and this is where you need to be spending your money, if people don't know about you then they won't be booking in !

If the hair salon has any adverts due to go out ask them to mention in the advert they have a new beauty room.

I always find October & beginning of November difficult as people like to hang on until closer to xmas.

 

[Kim Lawless]

I agree with Vetty about your pricing.

Set your prices and stick to them, because once the recession is over, they won't like you puttin your prices up. You could maybe do a free brow wax with another treatment or something like that, but no more.

Whenever you start a biz like yous where you rent a room above another salon, you will sit there for days all alone. Don't worry! Use that time to market yourself and keep yourself busy. Things will turn around and as long as you're good at what you do, you'll get clients. These things take time and you mustn't give up too soon. xxx:hug:

 

[Bronze Geek]

Thanks so much for all your advise! Just the wake up call i needed! I arnt starting for a few weeks so im gonna make the most of my time on a saturday. Show my face as it'll be the busiest day for the hairdressers! Iv also got a few ideas to promote myself and spread the word. I know that the most effective way is recommendations. The prices ive offered are just a tad lower than other places and only for November as an introduction price, in December they will increase a little to sit in the middle pricing range. I've got a few more things to add to my business plan aswell. Thanks again, i'll let you all know how I get on. Its nice to have some advise from people who really know wot their talking about!

Anneka xxxx